


relapses and regrets

by impravidus



Series: Batman/White Collar Fics [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Jason Todd is Neal Caffrey, Lazarus Pit Madness, Murder, Neal Caffrey is Jason Todd, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impravidus/pseuds/impravidus
Summary: On a stakeout, Neal gets shot with a mysterious green liquid and turns into someone that Peter doesn't recognize.OR: Jason Todd as Neal Caffrey gets a dose of Lazarus Pit water.
Relationships: Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Series: Batman/White Collar Fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124333
Comments: 19
Kudos: 135





	relapses and regrets

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lazarus Syndrome and the Muted Cure](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25167289) by [Silver__Hawk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver__Hawk/pseuds/Silver__Hawk). 



Neal has been silently (but not subtly) ecstatic about their case.

There has been someone distributing alleged original copies of Jane Austen’s _Pride and Prejudice._ Neal cannot wait to crack this case because if it’s a good forgery, then that’s impressive and a feat to experience but if it’s not “then it’s an actual original copy of Pride of Prejudice and I get to be in the presence of an original copy of Jane Austen’s greatest work and oh my God, Peter if it's the real thing I don't know what I'll do. _”_

So yeah. Neal’s been excited.

However, that excitement has been quickly cinched by the realization that this is a bigger operation than they could have ever expected.

Their suspect isn't just forging books. They’re mass producing books. And embedded inside the pages is the biggest and newest party drug on the streets.

So, now, they’re on a stakeout, trying to catch them in a deal.

Neal, as always, is eerily calm and collected besides his occasional quip or quick remark. 

Peter’s legs are starting to ache when they finally spot the man of the night. He has a book in hand and is pretending to read it despite the fact that it’s completely dark out and he can't possibly see the words on the page.

Neal’s breath hitches as a teen girl approaches the man, her hands shoved in her pockets and shoulders twitchy. She looks rightfully tentative, eyes darting behind her with every step.

Peter is about to tell Neal that they’ve got solid evidence for a warrant when he sees a dart shoot into Neal’s neck.

“Neal!” he exclaims, rushing to his side.

Neal’s breaths grow ragged and he pulls the dart out of his neck, eyeing the green liquid still sloshing inside of it. _“No.”_

Neal’s voice is absolutely petrified. His eyes are wide and he nearly drops the dart. Peter feels a chill shoot through his spine at the sight.

“Neal,” Peter says, growing anxious with the lack of knowledge. “What was in that?”

“Peter,” he says, voice wavering and hands trembling, “you need to get away from me. Now.”

“Neal—”

“Peter, please,” Neal pleads, the words stuttered and cracking. “You can’t be here. You have to be far away from me right now.” His eyes squeeze shut and he grabs at his hair, tugging harshly.

“Neal. What was in that dart?”

“Peter, please, trust me. You can’t be here. Not when I—” he shakes his head, eyes squeezing shut. “It’s already starting,” Neal whispers, horrified. “You can’t be here. You can’t be here.”

“Just tell me what’s going on Neal. You can trust me.”

“I can’t trust anyone!” Neal snaps, his voice rough and venomous and his eyes… glowing green?

Peter stumbles back.

“The last time I trusted someone, trusted my _life_ with someone, that life was _ripped away_ from me. The last time I trusted someone, they proved to me that I can never trust anyone again.” He steps forward, shoulders squared, his frame looming and intimidating. “You can't trust a man you don't know."

"You know me," Peter tries.

"But you don’t know me,” he sneers. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

“I know you, Neal,” Peter says, voice smaller than he’d like to admit.

He laughs bitterly. “No. You don’t. You think you do. You think you know _everything._ But you know _nothing!”_ Neal grabs him by the collar and shoves him against the brick wall of the alley. He leans into Peter’s space. “I’m not your precious little project. I’m not your sad little criminal that you can fix with the _law_ and midday donut breaks. I am nothing to you.”

“Yes, you are, Neal,” Peter says, trying to wriggle out of his grasp with no success. “You’re my partner. You’re my friend.”

He laughs again, the foreign sound forcing itself out of his throat. “You don’t give a damn about me. You never have. I make you feel good because I will never be good like you. I’ll always be the lowly thief that you rehabilitated into a good law abiding minion to follow in your footsteps. But never meeting your standards. Never good _enough._ I am not your equal. I am and have always been lesser than you. Because I’m crooked. I’ve committed _crimes._ Oh no, he faked some bonds and stole some art.” He smiles, a manic and terrifying thing. “Well, I’ve got more red in my ledger than you’d ever imagine.”

His eyes flicker over to their drug dealing bookseller. He’s handling the teen girl roughly as she sobs.

Neal growls. He turns back to Peter and grins, all bared teeth. Before Peter can comprehend what’s happening, Neal is punching him in the face and his head is hitting brick. 

Neal’s hands go to his belt and Peter is a second too late to realize what he’s gone for.

There’s a deafening bang and across the street, their suspect is lying on the ground, a bullet lodged perfectly through his temple.

Peter gasps and scampers away from Neal.

It’s only then that Neal snaps back into lucidity. He stares down at the gun in his hands and gasps. He flicks the safety on and drops it to the ground. 

“Oh my God,” Neal whispers. 

His eyes have faded back to their usual shade and he’s staring at his hands in horror. His head snaps up to face Peter who is staring at him like he’s unrecognizable. Probably because just moments ago, he was.

“Neal,” Peter says slowly, “what just happened?”

Neal’s eyes are darting frantically. 

Peter takes a cautious step forward and Neal flinches back. “Stop!” Neal yells. “I’m going to hurt you!”

“Neal,” Peter says softly. “Do you want to hurt me?”

“Of course not,” Neal says quickly.

“Do you plan on hurting me?” 

Neal shakes his head jerkily.

“We’re gonna figure this out, Neal. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He takes another step towards him. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Neal says again, a little too fast.

His previous words, now seared into Peter's brain, say otherwise. “I promise you, we’ll figure this out.”

“I believe you,” Neal says, voice barely audible.

Peter smiles, tight and pained and still tentative considering what he just witnessed him do. “We’ll figure it out. We will.”

Peter goes home and doesn’t sleep. He’s wracking his brain to figure out how to get the shortest and fairest trial he could considering what he assumes to be aggravation triggered by some sort of toxin.

Neal took the dart with him. Peter can’t even run the sample to figure out what he had been injected with.

Peter arrives at Neal’s place in the morning with his heart in his gut, the itch of questions about the night before constantly in the forefront of his mind.

June answers the door with a look that tells Peter everything he needs to know.

Neal is gone.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to chat, my Tumblr is [official-impravidus](https://official-impravidus.tumblr.com/)
> 
> If you want to join a White Collar/Batman Discord, click [here!](https://discord.gg/SnjTSuvtds)


End file.
